{in minho's room}
minho slowly sat on his bed, reaching into his coat for the folded piece of paper that was heavily sitting in his pocket. trembling slightly, he drew out the bloody envelope and opened it. the strangely patterned letter and began to read.
"what... but... that's impossible." he had finished reading the short letter, now blankly staring into space. water started to drip from his eyes as his mind raced. it was impossible and went against everything he was told. it was suicide, there was no other reasoning that made sense in his thoughts.
"what is this old, delusional bitch saying?" he muttered out loud, looking back down at the crumpled paper. "he wouldn't..." but he knew that the person was perfectly capable of doing what was written in the letter.
"how immensely stupid can i be? now they're all in danger." he anxiously sighed and picked up the letter again. "i shouldn't believe this ugly motherfucker. i'll never forgive him for what he did to them...or my family."
he dragged his gaze over to the single picture on his nightstand. it showed a young boy smiling and waving at the camera while a cheery looking woman laughed at him.
"fuck this shit." he groaned out, flopping face first onto his bed. "i hate you."
///
"please, you can't even afford another few days? you saw, you saw it happen." chan protested loudly, tensely setting his coffee cup down. "i'm not here to do some couple therapy, chan. i'm a surgeon, yes, but i can't cut open people's feelings. i barely have any experience with love and i need to get back. i could lose my job." she calmly stated back.
"none of them are okay, can't you see that?" chan let out a sigh and slumped back in his chair. "but if you have to leave... who am i to stop you?"
the older frowned, feeling bad for leaving them when the group obviously had so much on their hands. "are you... okay?"
"i don't know, i really just don't. it definitely wasn't a bad idea for anyone to let them live here... but we've gotten attached... including me." he whispered the last part, closing his eyes. "but we've become a mess."
jihyo bit her lip and pulled out her phone from her pocket. "you seem to need some type of support system or you're going to collapse." she began typing something up.
"how do i find a support system if i am everyone's support system?" chan said, bringing his hands up to his face. "i'm the leader, i have to support everyone. sure, some things have changed, but my role as the leader hasn't."
the other looked down at him and seemed to decide something. she clicked a few buttons on her phone and the familiar ring started to sound. "what are you doing? i thought you could-" chan instantly sat up. "shhh." she just shushed the leader.
"yes, hello. this is jihyo." she started, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. "i'm calling to let you know that i have a family emergency so i won't be able to come back." shocked, chan stood up and shook his head.
"i don't know... probably when i get this sorted out. yes, you may take this off of my salary. thank you!" jihyo hung up and sat back down, gesturing for the younger to do the same. "why did you do that?! you should leave! why are you staying?" he instead questioned in disbelief.
jihyo simply smiled. "i'm staying to be your support system."
///
[a few hours later]
"when do you want to tell the others?" seungmin suddenly asked. he was sitting next to hyunjin on his bed, each of them scrolling through their own phones. "that we're... dating i mean."
"hm... sometime." hyunjin vaguely replied, staring at his phone. he was obviously distracted, typing what seemed to be 'very important.'
seungmin frowned, peering over his boyfriend's shoulder. "look at me, hyunjin, this is important. do you want to tell them today?" the said boy was still scrolling through twitter, liking some random tweets about dry humor. "hmm... are you ready?" he still didn't look towards seungmin, still on his phone.
"yes, i'm ready." seungmin felt slightly confused and irritated. he knew he was being sensitive, but on that specific day, he wanted attention and cuddles. and hyunjin wasn't giving any of that.
"ok. i don't really care." he shortly said back, some hidden strain in his voice. seungmin drew back, slightly annoyed. "you don't seem to be ready, hyunjin." he got out of bed and grabbed his phone, not even bothering to say bye.
"seungmin wait-" left behind, the other exited twitter on his phone and turned it off, shakily breathing to calm his turbulent thoughts.
///
[that night]
"I WON! IN YOUR FACE!" jeongin excitedly yelled, waving the controller around like a kid. "innie, jisung is literally handicapped-" chan started, laughing at the cute boy's actions.
"shhh, its ok." jisung smiled, happily watching jeongin prance around the room. the youngest's attitude really helped cheer him up, despite the strangely awkward tension in the room. minho was in fact sitting on the other end of the couch, talking to jihyo while giggling at jeongin as well.
he could also feel the tension between seungmin and hyunjin. poor changbin and felix had been separated and were now each holding conversations with the two.
"okay innie, since you won, choose who you want to battle next." chan said, acting as the host for the night. "i choose, seungmin hyung!" he said, resulting in jisung getting off of the floor (with help from felix) and handing the controller to the said boy.
"sure, okay." glancing back at hyunjin, he sat extremely close to jeongin, who looked slightly surprised, but brushed it off. the mario kart game began and the two had a pretty exciting match that ended in seungmin winning by a few seconds.
"its okay, innie." smiling, seungmin simply hugged jeongin and placed the controller down on the floor. "two others can play, i need to have a word with him." everyone was a little taken aback, but agreed and seungmin dragged a confused jeongin out of the room.
a few seconds later, hyunjin abruptly excused himself to go to the bathroom and rushed out.
silence fell but was broken by felix's loud whisper. "they definitely fought."
back outside, hyunjin was eavesdropping on their conversation, feeling a sense of frustration bubble in his stomach.
"... okay, i see. but why did you call me here?" jeongin asked, confused.
"actually..." seungmin leaned closer, ready to whisper something into the other's ear. however, from hyunjin's angle, it looked like a totally different situation.
"STOP!" he hurried out from around the corner and pushed seungmin away. "what do you think you're doing?" he angrily said to seungmin, who was looking at jeongin.
"i was just telling him something, hyunjin. no need to get so angry. plus, i said i needed to have a word with innie. were you eavesdropping?" he narrowed his eyes.
"then what do you expect me to do when my boyfriend and another person go out alone to 'talk?'" he retaliated, totally forgetting jeongin's presence.
"so you are official!" he gasped, looking back and forth between them. "you're dating? why am i not surprised." he said, pouting.
"you blew it." seungmin groaned, rolling his eyes at hyunjin. "i just didn't want to be giving each other the silent treatment anymore." he sighed back. "i was stressed, okay? i'm sorry. it's... my mom's birthday today."
eyes widening, jeongin backed away and slipped out of the conversation, heading back to the living room to play more mario kart.
"your... mom?" seungmin was taken by surprise, a look of realization spreading. "oh."
"she died, seungmin. five years ago." hyunjin bitterly smiled. "she was murdered..."
"hyunjin... i'm sorry." seungmin stepped closer and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. "i should've thought more about you before acting like a bitch."
hyunjin relaxed into the embrace, finally letting himself spill a single tear. "i should be over it by now, but i just can't." he shakily whispered, tears falling faster.
"you don't ever have to be over it." he comfortingly responded, holding hyunjin close. they just stood there like that, hyunjin's tears wetting seungmin's shirt, his quiet sobs ringing out through the hall.
([{}])
probably shoulve warned yall this story isnt 100% minsung oops
oh well i hope you liked this short chap,,, since i promised more updates here ig
thanks for the read <3